Bound by Night(110)

“What language were kars and Hunter speaking? What were they talking about?”
“Fuck if I know. I’ve never heard that language before. And I’ve never seen him like that.” Riker sounded as shaken as she was as his hands roamed her face, her neck, her arms, as if he couldn’t believe she was alive and in one piece. She knew the feeling, because she couldn’t keep her hands off him, either. “It sounded like a negotiation, but whatever it was, I get the feeling we didn’t exactly win the battle.”
She got that feeling, too. And it had nothing to do with the fact that so many had been injured or killed.
Whatever Hunter had done, the consequences were going to be with them for a long time.
Hunter came over to them, his expression grave.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said. “What kars said about me breaking the deal . . . it wasn’t that simple. It was—”
Hunter silenced her with a gesture. “I know. He’s a bastard with no sense of honor. He shouldn’t have tried to keep you . . . or anything that belongs to you.” He gave her a look dripping with meaning, and she knew he was aware of the life she carried in her belly.
Riker tucked her into the curve of his arm, and she settled against him as if everything was right with the world. It wasn’t, but for now, she needed this, even if it only lasted a few minutes.
“What did you do to end the battle?” Riker asked.
“What I had to do,” Hunter said in a clipped voice that dripped with a drop it vibe.
Nicole had never been very good at dropping anything, but in this case, there were more pressing matters. “Did you bring first-aid supplies? I can help with the injured.”
Hunter shook his head. “Tag’s handling medic duty. I want you out of the way.” He shot a pointed look at Riker. “Take Nicole back to the clan, and have
Grant see to your wounds. I’m sending some warriors with you.”
Riker’s wounds would be mostly healed by the time they got back, but Nicole kept her mouth shut.
Hunter was trying to get her pregnant butt to safety, and she knew it.
“Hunt—” Riker started, but the clan chief rounded on him with a hiss.
“It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Riker popped a sarcastic salute. “Heading home as ordered, sir. Moving out now.” As Hunter strode away, Riker uttered a curse. “Whatever went down between him and kars is going to come back to bite us in the ass.”
“I’m thinking the same thing.” She glanced in the direction she and Aylin had come from, hoping the ShadowSpawn female was okay. How much had Aylin risked to get Nicole back to MoonBound? Nicole doubted that kars would let his daughter’s actions go unpunished. The question was, how severe would the punishment be?
“Let’s go.” Riker took Nicole’s hand and started toward MoonBound’s headquarters.
Instantly, several clan members fell in with them.
Most of the warriors kept to the rear, but a few scouted out ahead and to the sides in a well-coordinated tactical maneuver. Nicole didn’t miss the way Riker watched them all, nodding his approval and, once, barking out an order to one male who fell back a little too far.
For a long time, no one said anything, and the farther they got from the site of the battle, the more distance came between Nicole and Riker. The things they’d left unfinished were like an invisible crowbar prying them apart, until they weren’t holding hands anymore.
“Did they treat you well?” Riker finally asked, although he kept his attention focused everywhere but on her, even as he spoke.
“They didn’t hurt me, if that’s what you’re asking.” A squirrel scolded her as she stepped over a gully, waving away Riker’s offer to help. “Have you seen Bastien?”
“Not since I left ShadowSpawn.”
She hopped another stream, loving how effortless these things were with her new vampire body. Even at an easy jog they covered almost twice the amount of ground a human could at a run. “I’ve missed him.”
“Me, too,” Riker admitted. “I have a lot of time to make up to him.”
“I’m sure you’ll develop an amazing relationship with him.”
“I hope so.” He slowed as they approached a giant, moss-covered boulder she recognized. They were close to headquarters. By her estimation, they’d traveled a hundred fifty miles in just over three hours, and they hadn’t been moving at full speed. “Who knows what kind of damage was done to him, though.”#p#分页标题#e#
She hoped Myne had used her intel to make Chuck pay for what he’d done. She wasn’t going to apologize to Riker, though. Not again. If he didn’t know how deep her regret ran by now, he never would.